First helmet/visor build tips? Also general EVA foam tips thread.

[Emp Frosty]

Hey there I'm working on my first full build of Halo Reach armor and I was wondering if anyone had any tips for making helmets or even visors. I'm working on the left arm right now but i want to be able to start practicing for the helmet by the time i finish sealing and painting the arm pieces. Also I'm using EVA foam so also any tips in general would be helpful.

 

[Lt Shiny Sides]

Have you looked in the New Member Sticky thread yet? Pretty sure I saw something for foam in there. I know a lot of people prefer it over Pep because it's quicker.

The one tip I keep seeing is to make as clean of a cut as possible. Clean cuts equal a better build from the get go.

 

[Emp Frosty]

I looked through but I didn't see one focused on helmets. I use pepakura to get the base templates and adjust what I need to before i print them. Have you made any helmets before?

 

[FlyinPhil]

I have never made a foam helmet, and probably never will, but I can give you some pointers nonetheless.

Make sure your visor is a perfect fit. Unlike a fiberglass or cast helmet, you can't use the strength of the helmet to bend your visor into place and secure it or else it will distort it.

To get a perfect fitting visor, the best option is to purchase or make a vacuum formed visor. You can build a vacuum forming machine yourself, and there are a number of handy build threads on the forum to direct you how to do so. You will still have to construct a plug for the vacuum forming process out of your material of choice, whether it be wood, bondo, fiberglass, etc.

Good luck with your build!

 

[Reclaimara]

^ this

or you can use flexible materials for the visor

 

[dgarlans]

I've actually just started my own foam build. I've used foam before so I started on the helmet because I knew it'd be the most difficult and the most demanding in terms of measurements.

There is a decent amount of general information on making foam stuff on here, so you can definitely find some good references.

The part which I didn't see discussed much is actually one of the most important, and that's beveling the edges of the foam pieces to get them to fit together in the correct angles. If you just cut everything 90 degrees, you're gonna end up with a bunch of useless pieces that aren't gonna fit together at all. After you cut them out, you need to look at how they're all going to fit together and trim certain edges to get it to all go together correctly. There really aren't any actual guides about how to do it so you need to sorta wing it and figure it out yourself. It's not that hard to do, but no one mentions it much and it'd be easy to forget about it.

Also, don't forget about heat guns.... they're mandatory for getting certain parts to go together properly too, otherwise the foam will distort everything.

Good luck!

 

[Emp Frosty]

Yeah the beveling edges help a lot and same with the heat gun. I tried making pieces without it and it was just horrible. For the helmet would it be simpler/cheaper to buy something pre maid and then just cut it to the shape you want or just making it yourself? That's the part I'm most worried about, what would you recommend?

Also progress on my arm pieces...
And an additional question has anyone tried using plexiglass for a visor before and if so how well does it work?

 

[Dirtdives2424]

Yeah the beveling edges help a lot and same with the heat gun. I tried making pieces without it and it was just horrible. For the helmet would it be simpler/cheaper to buy something pre maid and then just cut it to the shape you want or just making it yourself? That's the part I'm most worried about, what would you recommend?

Also progress on my arm pieces...View attachment 28992View attachment 28993
And an additional question has anyone tried using plexiglass for a visor before and if so how well does it work?

I've used plexi-glass for other projects. Not for visors mind you....but I can tell you 2 things: 1) not easy to work w/ if you never did before. 2) you have to be careful not to overheat the piece or you could cloud it up. Instructables has a page that describes how to bend/drill/cut plexi-glass.....HERE.......I've never tried it before so I can't tell you if it works or not.